Vehicle axle



Jan. 7, 1930. w. GATTER VEHICLE AXLE Filed March 22, 192e 2 Sheets-Sheet ma l v Jan. 7, 1930. w. GATTER VEHICLE AXLE Filed Maren 22, 192e.

Patented Jan. 7, 1930 WILLIBALD GAMER, or AUssIG-scnaaoxnnsrmn, CZECHOSLOVAKIA VEHICLE AXLE lApplication filed March 22,

This invention relates to a device for supporting tiltable axles, more particularly for power driven vehicles i/n which the end of the shaft adjacenttothe wheel is clamped between two springs which have the form of single leaf springs and lie edge-on in the direction of travel.

It is the object of the present invention to arrange these springs in such a manner that the entire length of the springs between the outer ends of the shafts is available for the springing. p In the accompanying drawings, Fig. l shows the arrangement of the springs according to U. S. patent application Serial No. N

263,793, in section, as applied to a rear driving axle,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly in sectlon and 2U Fig. 3 aplan View, partly in section showing the mounting springs,

and

Fig. 5 a plan view, partly in section of another constructional form of the invention in which at either side of the shafts 2 single leaf springs are provided, and

Figs. 6 and 7 show in section and in side elevation respectively the journalling of the pins connecting the springs to the shaft heads. According to patent application Serial No. 263,793, see Fig. 1, the single sheet springs 10, 11 or 12, 13 lie on either side of the tiltable 3 5 shafts 18, 19. The springs lie one behind the other in a horizontal plane passing approximately through the wheel centres and are edge-on in the said plane in the direction of travel. At their inner ends the springs are 4o rigidly fixed to the gear box 14 by means of the flanges 20 on the same. The outero ends of the springs are connected by pints A 21 to the shaft head and are journalled in the latter (Figs. 6,7) in the eccentric bores of the bushes 22 in the said heads.

Through the springs 10, 11, 12, 13 being fixed to the flanges 20, the useful length of the springs is shorter than is required in practice. In order to overcome this drawback-according to the present invention, the trans- Fig. 4 is a` front elevation, partly in section 1928, Serial No. 263,794, and in Czechoslovakia March 31, 1927. i

verse pins 24 of the T-shaped tiltable shafts 25 are journalled so as to be rotatable in the vehicle body 23 which is to be sprung and the springs 26 extending from outer end to outer end of the tiltable shafts lie in slots in the 5 transverse pins 2 4'.' By this arrangement the entire distance between the outer ends of the tiltable shafts becomes available for the springs and a spring action over their entire length is possible. o0

According to Figures 1-3 the outer ends of the springs are connected by the pins 21 to the shaft head, while the straps 25 connect the springs lying on either side of the shafts.

In the constructional form shown in Figs.. 4, 5 and 7 two springs 28, 29 lie on either side of the tiltable shafts 30, the springs extending jointly lthrough slots in the transverse pins 31 of the said shafts. Hence, in this case as well the length of the'springs between the 70 transverse pins is effective.

The outer ends of the springs are connected to the shaft heads in thei manner already described by pins 32 which are journalled in the eccentric bores of the bushes 33 which are 75 inserted in the shaft heads.

What I claim is:

1. A flexible axle for vehicles, comprising the combination with shafts for the road wheels, said shafts having transverse pins at one end journalled` in the vehicle body so as to enable the shafts to tilt and being adapted to receive a road Wheel at the opposite end, of single-leaf springs at each side of said shafts, said springs being attached to the g5 shafts at lthe ends thereef adjacent the wheels and arranged so as to lie edge-on in the direction oftravel of the vehicle, and guide slots in the transverse pins of the shafts, the singleleaf springs being passed through said slots, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A flexible axle for vehicles as set forth in claim 1, having two single-leaf springs arran ed one above the other on each side of the shats, each pair. 0f leaf springs being passed 95 through a single guide slot in the ins of the shafts, as and for the purposes set orth. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

WILLIBALD GATTER. 

